How can Dnepropetrovsk quietly leave Ukraine
Over the past months, Dnepropetrovsk has been branded as the main stronghold of the struggle for the unity of Ukraine. The city on the Dnieper has become a kind of mission control center: they train, arm, refuel here. At the head of the process is Igor Kolomoisky: without his assistance, Kiev certainly could not effectively pacify the east. But you have to pay for everything. The “Reporter” understood what the price of the services of the oligarch was and who in fact could be the main beneficiary of federalization. Here is the spit of Yulia Tymoshenko rushed for the intersection on the flags in the column of expensive cars that had been buzzed along Karl Marx Avenue. But to meet women go in vests with the name of Sergei Tigipko inscribed on them. Looking with languishing with a huge stretch on the window of his headquarters in the city center looks Petro Poroshenko - already knows that he will win. There are many Ukrainian flags on the windows of the houses, some people wear embroidered shirts. On the day of graduation, schoolchildren in the central square of the city release 5 thousands of yellow and blue balloons to the sky to the sounds of the Ukrainian anthem.
It is hard to imagine that just two hundred kilometers from here, near the village of Karlovka, Donetsk region, the Donbass volunteer battalion was ambushed, and under Volnovakhoy, the 13 of the Ukrainian military were killed in a day. In the Dnieper - complete calm, not a hint of war. Ukrainian identity crossed the Dnieper - so they say now in Dnepropetrovsk.
Peace to you
From the windows of “Passage” - a shopping center in the heart of Dnepropetrovsk - you can see the French carousel, synagogue and Orthodox church. The city is proud of its tolerance. Even in Soviet times, one of the main streets in it was Sholom Aleichem Street (literally “peace to you”), named for the famous Jewish writer and playwright. The city is very strong Jewish community. In this sense, Dnipropetrovsk is even more Jewish than Odessa. And it leaves a big imprint on his life.
Igor Kolomoisky never held public office. He did not try to unite his property within one corporation, as Akhmetov and Pinchuk did, to beat his name in its name, like Tigipko or Poroshenko. Igor Kolomoisky remained faithful to the opaque schemes of 1990-s and non-publicity. But in early March, the informal leader of the Privat group changed itself, becoming the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
“In Dnepropetrovsk, political forces that represented power always prevailed, the city always followed power,” says Denis Semenov, communications specialist, former adviser to the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. - Even after 20 December - and by that time there was already a rejection of association with the EU and beating students on the Maidan - 40% of the region’s residents supported Yanukovych. People wondered: why the authorities cannot defend themselves, why not punish the “overseers”?
Such sentiments in Dnepropetrovsk have not gone away, now the locals see strength in Kolomoisky.
Police from the people
I'm going to enroll in the battalion "Dnepr". The recording takes place at the National Defense Headquarters, located in the building next to the regional state administration on Heroes Square of Maidan. Not long ago the square bore the name of Lenin, but new times produce new meanings.
The assembly hall on the ground floor, two people at the reception of documents, a few more busily fill out forms in the neighboring desks. There is a guy standing in front of me.
- Enters service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 4,2 pay thousands of UAH. This is the maximum rate in the police, so much received "Golden Eagle". More 2 thousands of UAH pays extra Kolomoisky, sometimes more - depends on the skills. This, so to speak, is the salary in an envelope, - a specially trained person from the “selection committee” recites answers to the most popular questions.
- And where will they send?
- Solves the battalion commander. They can be determined by a checkpoint, or they can be sent for a special operation.
- How old are you?
- 23.
- Served in the army?
- Нет.
- Почему?
- The agenda did not come. We have a debt on communal, nothing to pay, and the housing office refuses to register his son in the apartment. But I have almost two years of combat experience.
- Is that how it is? - surprised specially trained.
- We have been trying to take away the apartment for two years, we have been to the war like a war! - the boy is boiling.
- I see. You register, please, with relatives for example. Then - to the military registration and enlistment office, they will be given "suitability for service", and then to us.
Battalion "Dnepr" - a strange formation. On the one hand, its employees formally enter the service in law enforcement agencies and receive most of their salaries from the state. On the other hand, everyone understands that the local government is the initiator of the creation of the battalion. And, paying extra for a service, she makes this offer competitive in the labor market. In fact, the Dnipro battalion is a power structure, armed and paid for by the state budget, but completely loyal to the local government, on which the “bonus” payment depends.
War chief
In the office of Boris Filatov at full capacity running air conditioning.
“I will smoke if you don't mind,” Filatov lights up without waiting for objections.
Boris Filatov is now the most visible person in the administration of Igor Kolomoisky. He gives out interviews in packs, posts on Facebook and, in fact, is the mouthpiece of the new administration of the region. Three months ago, Filatov and his business partner, Gennady Korban, forcedly left Ukraine for Israel after they carried out a public demarche against the authorities, organizing a broadcast of the 5 channel on plasma monitors of the Passage shopping center owned by them in the center of Dnipropetrovsk. Korban and Filatov returned to Ukraine immediately after the victory of the Maidan and the flight of Viktor Yanukovych. And two weeks later, friends — well-known specialists in corporate disputes and raider wars — received deputy governor posts.
Many tipped Boris Filatov in the governors. They say that for this purpose his positive media image is being created as the main one in the war. It was he who oversees in the RSA questions of recruitment and training of fighters of the special battalion "Dnepr", the organization of the work of roadblocks around the city, he was also involved in ensuring the electoral process in the region. “Privat” skillfully exploits the theme of war. Against the background of calm in the city and relative calm in the region, people simply do not ask too many questions, ”says Denis Semenov.
- Look, - Filatov comes up to the map, which shows the Dnipropetrovsk region on an enlarged scale. “This is the Western Donbass,” he puts his hand around the eastern regions of Dnipropetrovsk. - The same mines, the same settlers from Kemerovo, but everything is calm there, no separatists. Understand that not all Donbass is flaming, but separate points. - Akhmetov does not understand the logic of the processes. Too late to buzz. This is a beautiful, but belated move, the deputy governor is sure.
His communication with the press is specific. The former journalist and lawyer Filatov has a clear abstract line, which, he thinks, gives answers to most of the questions that they want to ask him. The first, calm in the region, is the result of the fruitful negotiations of the RSA with the pro-Russian forces, the fruit of concessions and compromises. The second, the Dnipro battalion, is not a private army of Kolomoisky, but a structure under the Ministry of the Interior, which is co-financed by the National Defense Headquarters. Thirdly, all other volunteer formations do not obey anyone at all, act unprofessionally, but are friendly, and therefore they can and should be given all possible assistance. The same applies to the "Right Sector", which plays a significant role in the city.
Army and police are no more
“With friends like Right Sector, and enemies are not needed,” says Filatov. - They act at their discretion and do not obey anyone - neither the army command, nor the police, much less to us. On the other hand, we understand that these people are patriots and rather friends to us, and not enemies. Therefore, when the Pravoseki and other paramilitaries seek help, we can help as much as we can.
From the image point of view, the Right Sector is unprofitable to Kolomoisky, the Jewish community is wary of them. Perhaps that is why the regional authorities are now trying to distance themselves from them. Although they, of course, cooperate. So, the leader of the Dnepropetrovsk branch of the PS Andrei Denisenko was one of those who handed over the "keys to the city" to Igor Kolomoisky. At a joint press conference, immediately after the appointment of the informal leader of the Privat group as governor, Denisenko sat at his right hand.
"Right Sector" was one of the main forces involved in the storming of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration 26 in January of this year. But he was not alone.
- In Dnepropetrovsk at that time there was a free market for aunts. On Saturday, they could defend the RSA for Yanukovich and hold rallies with St. George ribbons, and work out a new contract on Sunday, storming the regional state administration against Yanukovich, ”says Denis Semenov. - Korban and Filatov felt the moment and made their bet on Maidan. The bid was a winning one.
All informal activity of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration has been moved to the National Protection Headquarters. What the governor cannot do and show may Headquarters. In fact, the SNZ is a universal screen, behind which money is collected and issues are solved that Igor Kolomoysky cannot openly decide as a government official. It is the National Security Headquarters that pays a reward of $ 10 thousand for the “heads” of the separatists.
- Do not you think that by paying extra to the soldiers of the Dnipro battalion, you are thereby further demoralizing the army and the police? - I'm changing the topic. - After all, reservists, called to participate in the ATO, have a completely different motivation. From here and maternal revolts, and ferment in the ranks of the military, called up to war for meager wages.
“It is simply impossible to demoralize the Ukrainian army even more, there is no longer any army or police in Ukraine,” says Filatov.
The deputy governor says that the Dnepr battalion has not left the borders of the region. And those volunteer formations that are now represented by the Dnepr battalion (as it was in stories near Krasnoarmeysk, where the fighters, who introduced themselves as the “Dnepr” battalion, shot two local residents) are not.
“If the RSA is not related to volunteer paramilitaries such as Donbas, who do you think will finance and equip them?”
- Semyon Semenchenko (the leader of the Donbass battalion. - “Reporter”) has his own way, we have nothing to do with him.
Big game Kolomoisky
Putting credit for the "pacification" of the radicals, Privat's office in the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration is crafty. Neither the Communists nor the pro-Russian forces are in the region a real force.
“There was a serious conflict between the ruling elite of the times of Yanukovich in Dnepropetrovsk and the local elites,” says political analyst Dmitry Gromakov. - Almost the whole team, which the former governor Alexander Vilkul brought with him, was from Krivoy Rog, where the interests of Rinat Akhmetov dominate. These people did not become their own for Dnepropetrovsk.
For krivorozhtsev "in Dnepropetrovsk" is equal to "in Jewish." Krivoy Rog is a mentally different city, it is much closer to the same Mariupol than to its regional center.
Now there is a fragile but still effective compromise between the new administration and the former leaders of the region, a kind of non-aggression pact. We can only assume that it is based on. One of the versions sounds like this. Igor Kolomoisky has not yet touched the Party of Regions, he does not completely demolish the management vertical, which was built in the region under Vilkul. A significant part of the heads of departments of the RSA and heads of districts retain their places. In addition, “Privat” has a serious personnel shortage, and there is a catastrophic shortage of executors of routine work in the region, but someone must do it while the local authorities are engaged in war.
On the other hand, Rinat Akhmetov, on whom the Krivoy Rog elite is oriented, is holding back separatist sentiments in the second largest city in the region, thereby not opening the “second front” in the rear of Kolomoisky. The cost of maintenance, equipment and salaries of Dnipro, the Ukrainian army and the National Protection Headquarters divide approximately 3: 1. In addition to the agreement with the “regionals”, they also talk about secret negotiations between the administration and the local criminals, in particular, those known in the area of criminal groups Narik.
- Local "bandos" while sitting quietly. Crime did not leave the city, but the crime situation in the Dnieper remains within the normal range, ”says Nikita Poturayev, a native of Dnipropetrovsk, a well-known journalist and political strategist.
The tacit partnership between the authorities and Narik has been talked about for a long time, but for obvious reasons, there is no evidence of this. It is interesting that Boris Filatov himself speaks of pro-Ukrainian sentiments prevailing in the criminal environment. Like, the dominance of competitors from Russia and the Donbass is not profitable even to them. Tacit agreements with the “regionals”, local informal authorities and the creation of a quasi-state militia in the form of the Dnepr battalion are the three whales that provide Igor Kolomoisky with the support of Dnipropetrovsk and the loyalty of Kiev.
So where is the ticket office?
Spacious office in a building built by Sphere. On the table - the book "History of Hasidism." The owner of the building and books is Fyodor Grischev, one of the members of the board of trustees of the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish community.
Fyodor Ivanovich personally and for a long time is acquainted with Igor Kolomoisky and his business partner Gennady Bogolyubov. According to Grischev, he communicates with them on you, but in public, given the current situation of Kolomoisky, he complies with the established etiquette. In the last election, Fyodor Grischev was a confidant of Petro Poroshenko in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
- There was a time when three of the first five Ukrainian oligarchs were from Dnepropetrovsk: Pinchuk, Kolomoisky, Bogolyubov. Rinat was not even on the map then, ”says Grischev. - At first, he came to Pavlogradugol, then to Krivorozhstal, to GOKs. Imagine you got a neighbor forced into your apartment. Okay, so be it. But once you come back, and the door of the apartment is locked, they won't let you in there. You are no longer the master in your own home. Approximately the local elite perceived the expansion of Donetsk. At some point, the line was crossed. And now the situation is recouping.
In one of his old interviews, Igor Kolomoisky describes one of the conversations with his long-time rival Viktor Pinchuk: “Life is a supermarket. Take what you want, but the ticket office is ahead. ”
Today this phrase can be addressed to Kolomoisky himself.
“This person never does anything for nothing,” says Denis Semenov. Apparently, he saw a window of opportunity and got involved in a very serious game for expanding his influence.
Igor Kolomoisky does not like to pay for everything exclusively from his own pocket. An indicative story with refueling army armored personnel carriers. In early March, Boris Filatov spread the information that Igor Kolomoisky, at his own expense, fueled the equipment of military units of the Southern Operational Command. It soon became clear that the oligarch's kind gesture cost the army 188 million UAH. That is how much the Ministry of Defense paid to Ukrtatnafta owned by Privat. The tender was carried out in a non-competitive procedure with one participant. Kolomoisky does not spend money - he invests them.
The appointment of Igor Kolomoisky as the governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, his associate Igor Palitsa - as the governor of the Odessa region, as well as mutual understanding established between Kolomoisky and the mayor of Kharkov Gennady Kernes - links of one chain that allow us to speak about the formation of a loyal oligarch territory along the axis Odessa - Dnipropetrovsk - A kind of anti-New Russia.
Now the game has moved to another level. Maidan gave a chance for the restoration of the influence of local elites in their own region, and not only.
The game Kolomoisky has gone beyond the "defense of attack." Dnipropetrovsk is becoming an alternative center of influence for Kiev. Local elites do not openly require federalization, but the redistribution of money and powers from Kiev to the regions is beneficial to them than anyone else. The fact that Donbass wants to get the war, Dnepropetrovsk will achieve peace.
There are too many people in the city on the Dnieper who are playing their own game, but now they are all - raiders, gangsters, patriots and oligarchs - playing with only one goal. “Igor Valerievich, feed the pigs, please,” Oleg Tsarev writes on his Facebook page. That week, the parliament agreed to arrest the people's deputy, and a few days earlier Tsarev lost his business in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Tsarev blames Kolomoisky personally for the raider seizure of a bakery, a paper mill and a pig farm. The latter is not justified. On the page of Boris Filatov, an entry appears promptly: “Tsarev, if you thought that today's vote in BP is the gift promised yesterday (for the birthday. -“ Reporter ”), then you are mistaken. Gifts will come later. ”
However, it is unlikely that the destruction of Oleg Tsarev's business — raid in the understanding of Privat — is too small. Rather, it is a personal vendetta and mutual dislike. But to deny the business component as a motive for Kolomoisky’s actions would be naive. Already, Privatbank is receiving significant amounts of refinancing from the NBU, Privat's refineries process technological oil, which, until recently, filled pipelines, while the International Airlines of Ukraine company associated with Privat did not experience competition from European low-cost companies. costa - agreement on the open sky has not been signed.
It is unlikely that Kolomoisky will now openly "squeeze" assets. Although, in the event of the collapse of Rinat Akhmetov’s empire, Privat will surely take what will be badly laid, first of all iron ore GOKs. Also of great interest is the land. In Dnipropetrovsk alone, 2 million hectares of fertile soil, even a quarter of these areas will make Igor Kolomoisky the most powerful landowner in the country, provided that the moratorium on land privatization will be lifted. Somehow it will be necessary to pay off with the crime, which is not showing activity now. And land is a great resource to satisfy everyone.
Eastern Capital
Today, the interests of Privat and the Ukrainian authorities are the same, they need each other. But what happens when interests coincide cease, and what will the “civilized divorce” look like?
“Dnepropetrovsk is the key to the southeast,” said Igor Kolomoysky in one of his interviews. He who controls this city controls the whole east.
“This control is due to the fact that without Dnepropetrovsk, any candidate from the government loses elections in the east,” says Dmitry Gromakov. The Dnieper played into the hands of Petro Poroshenko, if only by ensuring a calm vote. Now Kiev depends on Dnepropetrovsk - this is its fulcrum in restoring calm throughout the region. The only question is what it will be in Kiev.
Dnipropetrovsk definitely claims the status of the financial capital of Ukraine, an alternative center of influence to Kiev, in which the key role is played by local elites, and not the central government. Secure the privilege of local elites can guarantee the election of governors and decentralization of the budget. Or, alternatively, the current team of the Dnepropetrovsk governor may start the fight for Kiev. Igor Kolomoisky, after all, did not rule out that he could be carried away by politics.
And sooner or later the question of relations with the Kiev players will arise, the key figure among whom, more recently, is Petro Poroshenko. What now seems a mutually beneficial partnership tomorrow may turn into a tough rivalry between the two capitals. There were many such examples in history: Kiev and Novgorod, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The historical moment, resources and ambitions of Dnepropetrovsk now allow us to play an independent game throughout Ukraine.
“Igor Kolomoisky is a man of war,” says Nikita Poturaev. - He feels comfortable only in a state of conflict, and a conflict in which he will definitely win. The epic confrontation between Igor Kolomoisky and Viktor Pinchuk has now disappeared. Interpipe in a deep financial crisis, the once powerful son-in-law of Leonid Kuchma does not demonstrate a proactive stance in politics. Rinat Akhmetov is a wounded lion, and Donetsk and Lugansk are too problematic regions and unattractive for expansion. But resources and ambitions have Petro Poroshenko - another oligarch from the top ten. Today, the new president depends on Dnepropetrovsk. But behind the war there always comes peace and time to pay off debts. The place of the main rival in the life of Igor Kolomoisky is now vacant. And the main contender for it may be Poroshenko.
To unravel the logic of Igor Kolomoisky’s actions, you need to understand what kind of person he is. Knowledgeable people like to tell such a story about him. In 2005, the conflict over one of the most attractive industrial assets in the country - the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant - entered a hot phase. Viktor Pinchuk disputed the right to manage the enterprise Igor Kolomoisky. There were courts, attempts at raider seizure, meetings of the labor collective - in general, a complete set. At some point, the parties found a common language. And then once at the exit from the Kiev restaurant "Lipsky Mansion" there was an unprecedented spectacle: Kolomoisky and Pinchuk walk a little tipsy in the arms, the quarter is surrounded by the personal guard of two oligarchs. The day before, they agreed on the division of spheres of influence on the NZF and now celebrate reconciliation. Pinchuk escorts Kolomoisky, who flies to Israel, to the airport. The next morning, the people of Kolomoisky burst into the enterprise, put Interpipe security on the ground and occupy the plant management by force. Alarmed by the bad the news Victor Pinchuk calls Kolomoisky: - Igor, what is happening, have we agreed? - Victor, I completely forgot to tell you ...
Information